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Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson buys mom Cadillac Escalade using NIL dollars

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz03/05/26NickSchultz_7

After Indiana’s Senior Day victory over Minnesota, Lamar Wilkerson had a surprise in store. He bought his mom a Cadillac Escalade using his NIL dollars.

Wilkerson surprised his mom with the gift after IU’s resounding 77-47 win at Assembly Hall on Wednesday night. The car was waiting for her in the parking garage with a bow on the hood, and her reaction said it all.

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It capped a huge night for Wilkerson, who helped lead the charge for Indiana against Minnesota. He had 16 points, second only to Sam Alexis as the Hoosiers improved to 18-12 overall and 9-10 in Big Ten play heading into the season finale this weekend.

It continued a strong year for Wilkerson, who transferred to Indiana from Sam Houston State. He entered Wednesday’s game leading the Hoosiers with 21 points to go with 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He also had a 46.4% shooting percentage heading into the game.

This also isn’t the first time Wilkerson has put his NIL dollars to use. He also made a six-figure donation to Sam Houston State after his transfer, he told The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster before the season. When asked about that decision, he said it was a way to express his gratitude to the program that developed him.

“I did it out of love, man,” Wilkerson said. “I did it out of love for Coach [Chris] Mudge, for just Sam Houston. I’d been there for three years, so it was home for me. I got comfortable there, I built a family with a lot of people, a lot of donors and everything.

“So I just gave back because I felt like I want to see their program strive. I want to keep seeing them get better over time. I was [willing] to help.”

Lamar Wilkerson averaged 20.8 points for Sam Houston last year. That helped make him one of the coveted guards in the portal this past cycle as he committed to Indiana.

IU is now getting ready for the regular-season finale on Saturday, which will be the last game before the Big Ten Tournament. The Hoosiers will travel to Ohio State for a 5:30 p.m. ET tip-off.